


Coda

by neonroadkill



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-20
Updated: 2017-03-20
Packaged: 2018-10-08 07:41:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10381812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neonroadkill/pseuds/neonroadkill
Summary: An epilogue of sorts for SpookySad's short story "Truce."





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SpookySad](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpookySad/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Truce](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7524886) by [SpookySad](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpookySad/pseuds/SpookySad). 



The pitter patter of rain against the window was growing incessant now. Outside of the coffee shop, a busy street rushed, but Tyler was determined to wait. He tilted his watch to glance at the time, tapping his feet against the rail of his barstool absentmindedly. Josh had promised.

Things here were… different, to say the least. It was only yesterday that he had arrived, but it felt like it had been years. Time was strange here, but in a good way, he liked to think. Although everything passed at the same rate, there was a relaxed, breathless feeling to the days that made him feel as though clocks and watches were entirely unnecessary. Closing his eyes, he could almost see it- silver threads of lifetimes slowly floating through nothing. It was a state of disconnect that he enjoyed more than he cared to admit, and he found that often times he had to bring himself back down to Earth because he caught himself drifting.

Well, not Earth, he mused, strumming his fingers against the table… or was it? Was this Earth, or else some hidden dimension? Perhaps another place entirely?

Tyler glanced back at the door to the shop.

Somehow, it didn’t seem to matter at all.

After some time, though he wasn’t exactly sure how long, had passed, a waitress in a light blue apron came over. She was a young woman with a smooth, pale-moon face and kind almond eyes.

“Would you like to order anything, sir?”

He smiled, only-half paying attention, still staring out the window. “I-”

“You’re waiting for someone, aren’t you?” She smiled warmly, setting down a warm cup of coffee. There was nothing sinister about the way she said it, but he was simply taken aback- there was no way that she could know.

“Yes. He said he’d be here. Soon.”

She finished pouring the milk- exactly how he liked it, although he hadn’t spoken a word to her before- and simply stood there, taking him in for a moment. The silence between them was a soft one. At last, with a sigh, she turned to leave, only glancing over her shoulder to say, “You can’t wait forever, that’s all.”

Tyler was somewhat taken aback, and had to resist the urge to scoff. Of course he wouldn’t wait forever- Josh had promised, and that was that. Tyler hadn’t trusted a person so much in years, despite the fact that he had known Josh for all but a day. There was no sliver of doubt in his mind that they would meet again; He resolved to wait as long as he would have to. Even if it was forever.

So he waited- and waited, and waited. The rain outside grew thicker, and the cup of coffee grew emptier, and yet the boy with the blue hair was nowhere to be found. He began to fidget. And gradually, thoughts began to creep in, uncertainty coiling in the base of his skull.

When he began to wonder if he should simply leave, walking out into the drenching rain and onwards- wherever that may be- he felt a light tap on his shoulder.

Heart caught in his throat, Tyler turned around to find those same dark eyes and curved lips and was greeted with a heartfelt smile and dry “Hi.”

Tyler smiled back.

“Dude.”

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

And so they sat. Before long, the moon-faced waitress had returned with more coffee- Josh’s favorite this time. The rain outside continued, but the sounds of it were still muffled through the glass.

“Do you think they miss us?” It was Tyler who broke the ice, asking the question that had been itching beneath his skin since before he had made the decision to die. He had always wondered if anyone would notice if he was gone. If anyone would care.

“Honest?” asked Josh, sipping at his coffee and raising his eyebrows at Tyler, who nodded.

“Yeah. I think they do.”

This was the answer neither of them wanted, but both of them know was unequivocally true. Nobody said anything after this, and they drank their coffee in silence for a few minutes while that feeling of wrong and empty started to well in the bottom of their ribcages. Tyler glanced over at Josh, and knew he felt it too. Both of them made this decision; There they were.

Without much warning, Josh suddenly spoke, looking at Tyler but eyes staring off to somewhere much further away.

“My mom.”

A well started to build in the bottom of Tyler’s chest and he knew that he would spend the rest of his life- or whatever this is- wondering. About everything.

“Mine too.”

Josh paused, fidgeting with his fingers before pushing out a painful sentence. “I don’t remember what she looks like.”

This was the one that took Tyler by surprise. Because _how can anyone forget what their mother looks like?_

“Your mother?” Tyler asked, trying hard to be careful about his tone so as not to come off surprised. He knew what he knew and he knew what he didn't know, and he knew that he didn't know what Josh was feeling right now.

“Yeah.” said Josh, talking to his hands, “The last time I saw her was months ago. It makes you think, you know? Do you think she remembers what I look like? You know?”

Tyler took a breath, because no he didn't know. Not really. “Yeah, I guess. I bet she will, though. They have pictures, like on the casket and stuff.”

Josh inhaled slightly at the mention. “The casket.”

“Yeah” says Tyler.

“Yeah.” says Josh.

They breathed together for a while.

“It’s okay.” said Tyler, and the moment the words leave his lips he knew they weren’t true, and he wished with every fiber of his being that he could take them back because the look that Josh gave him held the weight of the world.

“It’s not okay.” said Josh. The authenticity of the statement seemed to ring around the room for a bit, but it bore no hostility. These were simple truths.

“It’s not okay.” agreed Tyler, swirling what were now cold dredges of coffee around the bottom of his cup. “It’s not okay.”

Josh looked at him.

“It’s not okay.” said Tyler again, feeling the sweet honesty of the words in his mouth. He closed his eyes, saying it slowly this time, letting all of himself spill out. “It’s not okay.”

Josh swallowed, jaw set. He nodded slowly.

Tyler looked at him and he knew that Josh was sharing the same deep melancholy feeling. The feeling of rattled bones and wounds in places you can’t stitch up. He knew, and Josh knew, and he knew that Josh knew. It was enough.

Side by side, they stared out the window at the rain together. Now that no one was talking, the pitter patter was back, softer now, and it was like they could hear each drop against the window. Beyond the glass was nothing, and yet neither of them could stop looking.

Tyler didn’t take his eyes off the rain, but instead rested his chin in his hands, gazing at whatever lay out there. “One day it could be.” he said carefully. “It might take a long time, but one day it could be okay.”

He didn’t say anything, but a shiny hope rose up in Josh. He took a deep breath, still looking out into the distance. “You think so?”

Tyler glanced over at him, the boy with blue hair and all the flowers of the world wrapped up in his soul. Tyler reckoned he could fix anything with a smile. Maybe they could fix each other. Maybe it might take a long time, but maybe one day he wouldn’t wonder anymore. Wouldn’t wander anymore.

Maybe one day the rain would stop.

Tyler looked back at the window, and thought that maybe for a moment the downpour wasn’t as bad as it was a minute ago.

“Yeah, I think so.”


End file.
